


that’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown

by Mellybear



Series: Flaming Arrow Fics [9]
Category: Ava's Demon
Genre: Charlie Brown - Freeform, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Domestic Christmas Fluff, F/M, First Apartment, Fluff, for the Ava’s demon secret Santa, poor kids making their way in the world
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:01:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22183765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mellybear/pseuds/Mellybear
Summary: Ava and Odin have finally saved enough money to move out into their first apartment. They move to a rundown one bedroom in Bakersfield California right before Christmas and Odin finds that Ava is upset to be missing out.
Relationships: Odin Arrow/Ava Ire
Series: Flaming Arrow Fics [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/783267
Kudos: 4





	that’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown

**Author's Note:**

> this was a secret Santa exchange for youngmoviemaker on tumblr!

It had finally happened somehow. It took years of scraping together pennies from minimum wage jobs and living at home with their parents for longer than was socially acceptable, but now Odin was finally putting down the last box in their new apartment. They’d saved for years just to have enough for the deposit on a one bedroom apartment in California. When they first started dating Ava detailed her dreams of living close to the beach. So Bakersfield wasn’t quite the beachside property of their dreams, but it was closer than it had been before they moved. 

He patted a box, labeled in Ava’s blocky handwriting KITCHEN. “W-wanna see if we can f-f-find some dinner?” 

“That box is all pots and pans, good luck eating cast iron.” She laughed as he dug through the box to confirm. He supposed they hadn’t had much food to pack for themselves moving out of their family homes. 

“W-well...” He scratched his chin. “We co-could order in-n?” Odin knew he had a good thirty bucks kicking around somewhere. No answer came to his question and when he looked up from the boxes to investigate why he saw his girlfriend gazing out the window. It wasn’t much of a view, just the city streets and air pollution. 

“I can’t believe it’s already December and there’s no snow,” she said after a few moments. 

“It d-d-doesn’t sn-n-now much h-here.” If at all. ‘The snow’ was a  _ destination _ for Californians. That’s what came with wanting to live near the beach. Or at least, two hours from it. 

“I don’t know how it’ll feel like Christmas with no snow.” Christmas had honestly been the last thing on Odin’s mind. They were far too broke now to pull out all the stops on gifts and dinner. 

“N-next year we can g-g-go b-back home.” It would always be snowing there in December, and their families would expect to see them for the holidays. 

“Where are we going to put the tree?” She asked looking around the living room with boxes stacked in every corner. It looked like more than it really was due to the low ceilings and general cramped space. Odin looked around with her. 

“I g-guess...” He pointed to the deepest corner furthest from the door. “Th-there.” It’s away from the kitchen, which isn’t actually a separate room and is instead divided by a metal strip in the ground that separates yellowing carpet from yellowing tile. She stood in the corner as if sizing it up. 

“B-but... We p-r-r- _ robably _ can’t afford a t-tree this year.” He hated letting her down, and the look on her face dampened significantly to let him know he had done just that. 

“You’re right...” She sighed, still standing in the corner to size it up. 

“N-next year,” Odin assured her, walking over to pat the top of her head. “Christmas will be p-perfect next year.” A pretty big promise to make considering they wouldn’t have much more money then either if things continue like they had. She nodded though, giving a sniff almost like she’d been crying. The two fell into each other’s embrace, Ava burying her face into his chest like she intended to nest there. 

“L-let’s find some c-ca-sh. There’s a s-s-sushi joint w-we passed.” They probably couldn’t afford delivery and sushi but he’d go get it for them. 

  
  


Digging around in a clothes box, Odin tracked down a twenty dollar bill in the back pocket of his discarded work jeans. 

“F-found it.” He held up the crumpled bill triumphantly and at the sound of his voice Ava ceased her own rooting around for spare change. 

“I got a dollar twenty-five.” She announces proudly, holding up a crumpled bill that had been through the wash and a dingy quarter. Odin held his hand out for that too. 

"You c-can c-c-call and order while I'm w-wa-walking," he told her standing at the door and wrapping himself up in his coat and scarf they'd left on the floor where a coat rack should go. She nodded understanding before hunting down her cell phone. Talking to people gave her anxiety, but she knew Odin had a rougher go of it, especially on the phone he could be hard to make out. So he would go get it and face human interaction face to face while she dealt with the phone call. It seemed to be a pretty fair trade. When he got out the door and down the several flights of stairs (elevator was busted) he realized his coat and scarf were a bit much. The people around him were all bundled and shivering the same, but the weather felt like a crisp spring day back home more than the middle of December. He let the grey hand knit scarf sit open around his neck. It had been his Christmas present from Ava last year. She spent all her free time while he was working the graveyard shift. It was supposed to be a blanket but she decided to stop at scarf and he loved it just the same. 

By the time he got to the sushi joint, he was sure Ava had enough time to order. He looked at the cheesy lanterns and fish tank, which felt like any other sushi place he’d been to. Not that there were very many back east. When he saw the plates though he could already tell this was nothing like the sushi at home. Probably having something to do with the fact that this fish was a lot fresher. 

“H-h-hello.” Odin coughed, as if that would shake off his stutter. It was always worse in public, when people were new or staring at him. “O-order for A-Ava. Or-or Odin.” The woman behind the counter looked very bewildered by his stammering but checked the tags at her side. She picked one up and looked it over?

“Odin?” She said it more like udon, but he nods. The white receipt paper is slammed down onto a spike with several other receipts before she turns to walk away. He’s left looking at the bowl of mints and toothpick dispenser for a few moments before something catches his eye. Just behind where the woman’s head had been there’s a tiny tree sprouting up on a shelf. It’s growing severely to the left in order to avoid hitting the shelf above it, tilted and awkward. Maybe in need of water but he’s not quite sure. 

When the woman comes back with a takeout bag she tells him it’s 15.50. Odin points to the tree behind her. 

“H-how much?” Her face looks at him in that same bewildered way as before looking back to where he’s pointing. 

“Not for sale.” She shook her head to emphasize the point. 

“How much?” He repeats digging in his pockets for the money and handing her all of it. She looks over the money, and he knows it’s probably worth more than six dollars but it’s worth a shot. “P-please?” His intense gaze pierced into her own. She looked around uneasily and Odin couldn’t help but think about how he was about to be banned from the nearest restaurant on their first day in the new apartment. 

“Ten more dollars. Come back later.” Her words are short and precise, so unlike his. He claps his hands together once, making to bow like an idiot. 

“T-thank you! Th-th-thanks so much!” He ripped the food from her hands so ecstatically she flinched. 

"We close at eight o clock!" The bell inside rang as he threw the door open, back into the pseudo cold air. 

He didn't return that night, mostly because he couldn't get ten dollars, but it also wouldn't be much of a surprise to Ava if he brought it home with him that minute. Instead, the next day Ava was going to report to her first day on the job. She'd mooned over the idea for months, she'd be working in a stocking warehouse which didn't sound like something young girls mooned over. The part she loved? Not one of her coworkers could speak English, and she couldn't speak Russian. It was the perfect job, with the lowest amount of human interaction possible. Odin wished they were hiring two new staffers, but he was focused on his art. Which meant staying home and drawing commissions for table scraps. 

But it was a table scrap that got him back to the sushi place for the tree (and maybe a California roll, which he and Ava had eaten in abundance to celebrate their move.) The same woman stood behind the counter, and Odin wondered if perhaps she was the owner. Or the owner's wife. He'd figure it out in time. He didn't hesitate a second in slamming his card down on the counter, narrowly missing her receipt spike. 

"T-tree." He didn't want to waste time mincing words. She gave the same look, and he now knew he would recieve it every time they came. Likely with Ava looking on questioningly at his side. But it was no surprise to her that Odin could be... Abrasive. It was to this woman though. Nonetheless, she turned and grabbed the tiny tree before ringing him up for a large container of rice. He had never punched in his PIN so quickly in his life, usually there was some sort of hesitation in spending. Not for Ava though. 

He practically ran home, the tree swaddled in his arms and sheltered by his body. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something shining on a wrought iron rail. Christmas lights. They had wrapped fake tree like garland around the rail and hooked small red Christmas bulbs in it. He looked around for several seconds, determining that no one was really looking at him, before nicking one and sticking it in his jacket pocket. Then he really did run home, tree still safely tucked against him. 

They hadn’t unpacked much of anything, and both of them had pretty much no furniture to their name. They’d left two twin beds back home in the room in their parents houses knowing from experience that cramming the both of them on one didn’t work out comfortably. But one thing they had lifted out of Ava’s room was the bookshelves that had belonged to her great grandmother before her. They were real wood and handmade, clearly something better than they could put together from ikea. It stood pressed against a wall near the kitchens entrance. He set the tree there, from one shelf to another so it would continue growing in the way it had. Odin kept the bauble in his pocket, waiting with bated breath where a couch should be for Ava to come home. 

It had only been a four hour shift, to get her training done and acquainted with. He didn’t know how much training was possible if there was a language barrier but she actually came home with a smile on her face, ready to gush about her day. He wanted to let her, and he tried to listen, but over her shoulder his brown eyes kept flicking back to the tree with anticipation. 

“...So they showed me-, what do you keep looking at?” She turned her head to follow his gaze and stopped dead when she saw the only thing sitting on their shelves. Knowing this was the moment, Odin took her by the waist, pulling her over to the book shelf. 

“Y-you were upset we didn’t have a t-tree so I...” he trailed off not sure how to explain his adventure succinctly to her. The noise the comes out of her mouth is so high pitched he wonders if it made the neighbors dog ache. 

“It’s so cute and tiny!” She tells him, like he might have missed that part. 

“Uh-huh.” Odin reaches into his pocket and offers the ornament to her by the hook. “Wanna p-put the first d-decoration up?” He offered as her small voice gasped. 

“Hang on.” His brow furrowed, confused at her not instantly saying yes. He watched her pick the tree up from the spot he’d picked and shuffle across the room to the corner she had stood in the other day. 

“Perfect,” she said holding out her hand for the ornament. “We can put our presents under here.” Small tree, small presents, it worked out. He knelt down at her side, handing her the bauble again watching as Ava inspected their warped reflection in the shining red plastic with a smile. She reached forward, hooking it on the lowest branch and sitting back to admire her work. 

“It’s like Charlie Brown.” She put her head on Odin’s shoulder, relaxing into him. He hadn’t seen the movie in years, but the image of a sad small tree was an iconic one. He laughed, nodding his head as he reached into the other pocket for his phone. 

“We can w-watch it,” he suggested going to find somewhere to watch the movie free and illegally. Ava nodded, hunkering down on her spot with him leaning to see the small screen. He found it for them, and shortly after a blanket that was intended to be a throw. It wrapped tightly around them both, making them look like a lump on the floor in front of their tiny Christmas tree, single bauble, with a thin blanket and a small screen to watch on. It wasn’t much, but already Odin had lived up to the promise of a perfect Christmas. 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks if you read this & if you enjoyed leave a kudos or a comment or if you’re feeling extra kinda give me (or my secret Santa!!) a follow on tumblr @shslflamingarrow


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